


Intertwined

by punkspiders



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, albert is a big nerd who loves birds, and really cute, it's pretty damn gay, race is a baseball player, then there's a date, they get paired together for a small assignment, they go to the zoo, woah okay this is a wild ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 01:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16713892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkspiders/pseuds/punkspiders
Summary: All the movies Albert had ever watched showed him that a popular kid and a nerd could never, ever, under any circumstances, become friends. That stuck with him until his senior year of high school.Little did he know, he would end up falling in love with a jock.





	Intertwined

**Author's Note:**

> newsies live cast!
> 
> title based off one of dodie's songs (has nothing to do with the fic though).
> 
> not edited, like always. enjoy

All the movies Albert had ever watched showed him that a popular kid and a nerd could never, ever, under any circumstances, become friends. That stuck with him until his senior year of high school.

Everyone at their school knew about Racetrack Higgins, the blond baseball player who was insanely fast at both running and throwing, hence his nickname. He also had a reputation for being one of the nicer jocks. Race was in a few of Albert's classes, but they never spoke a word to each other. Until they got paired up in their marine science class. 

"Okay, what the _fuck_ are we supposed to be doing?" Race asked when the teacher finished explaining their assignment.

"Uh... we have the box-"

"Yes, the box that's sitting right in front of us."

Albert rolled his eyes and continued. "We're supposed to take the silver rod thing, stick it in each of the holes in the cardboard, then measure the length that went in. Supposedly, we'll be able to figure out if we have a continental shelf, slope, abyssal plains-"

"That's a bit wordy."

"It's a topography assignment, basically. Shouldn't be too hard."

"I measure, you write down the numbers." Race picked up the metal rod. He left no room for argument.

They worked in mostly silence, except Race calling out the numbers every few seconds. It didn't take long and they were one of the first groups to finish. The teacher passed by them, nodding her praise then went to another table with an exasperated sigh.

"So," Race said, "tell me about yourself. I see you around a lot but I don't really know you."

Albert scratched the back of his neck. "Well... there's not that much to say. I'm a high school nerd who surprisingly doesn't get picked on."

"I think your muscles scare everyone away. You could be a football player."

The ginger frowned as Race rested his head on his palm. He seemed to stare at Albert intensely, making him feel uneasy.

"Like I'd ever succeed. I'd rather stick to my bird books."

"You like birds?"

"I love them. I can name one out just by seeing a picture of it, and tell a bunch of facts about that species."

Race's lips turned up into a grin. "See, that's the kind of stuff you should be proud of. Do you ever get to tell people about it?"

"Not really. Most people think I'm even more of a nerd because of it."

"I'll tell you what - Saturday, meet me at the Central Park Zoo at noon. We can go through the bird exhibit and you can tell me as many facts as you can."

"It's a deal." Albert found himself mirroring Race's grin just as the bell rang.

_\- - -_

Race arrived early to the zoo on Saturday, likely a little too excited. He knew that if the people at school heard about a jock purposefully hanging out with a nerd, he'd never hear the end of it. But he was willing to deal with that in order to figure out more about the hot, bird-loving, ginger nerd who caught his eye back in freshman year.

 _Speak of the devil,_  he thought as Albert walked up to the gates of the zoo.  _Fuck, he looks hot._

He pushed away the gay thoughts and grinned. "Look who decided to show up. I thought for sure you were gonna bail."

"There was a point where I wasn't sure if this was all a joke or not," Albert admitted. "That's happened before. Not fun."

"Let's stop talking about sad stuff and go look at birds."

"Good idea."

They paid for their tickets and went through security. Once he could, Albert grabbed Race's arm and pulled him through the massive crowd of people. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, which was true; he came to the zoo very often.

It took a few more minutes of waiting before they were allowed inside the bird exhibit. Race's eyes widened right away.

"That's a lot of birds."

"I believe they have around fifty five? Not fully sure." Albert pointed at a flock of red birds with long wingspans. "Those are Scarlet Ibises. They can live up to twenty years and are the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago."

Race didn't know what to say, so he simply stayed silent, nodding when needed. He was more than impressed - with both the exhibit and Albert's extensive knowledge of birds. He noticed the way Albert's eyes lit up as he listed off facts and information about each bird that would make a tour guide quit their job.

"Those? Emerald Starlings. They have different calls for different purposes, like alarm calls, contact calls, and pre-flight calls...."

Soon, Albert was done. He seemed to be happier than he'd been in a while. At one point, he even slid his hand into Race's and held it the rest of their adventure.

If one were to say something about it, Race would completely deny the fact that his face turned red at the feeling of Albert holding his hand.

They left the bird exhibit, stomachs growling. Albert suggested they go to the café and Race agreed. He was once again being pulled through the zoo, but this time their hands were (still) interlocked.

Albert squeezed Race's hand as he led Race inside. "There's not much, and it's a bit expensive, but it's actually pretty good."

"It's better than going through the pantry and finding nothing but expired crackers."

"You have a weird life."

Race grinned, shooting him a wink before stepping up to the cashier. "Hi! Could I get the chicken fingers?"

A few minutes later, they were sitting down at a table with their food. Albert ordered the pizza, which he traded a slice in exchange for one of Race's chicken tenders.

"You were right," Race said between bites. "This is good."

"A DaSilva never lies."

"I'm calling bullshit on that."

"Race! Language! There's probably little kids here." Albert glanced around, only confirming that there was indeed little kids there, but none close to them.

"You're telling me that you've never lied?"

"...Okay, I lied about that. But this is damn good food."

Both boys grinned, bursting into laughter a second later. They couldn't keep their eyes off of each other but also had to look away.

Yeah, they were falling in love.


End file.
